Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Israeli forces detain 4 Gaza fishermen

Palestinian fishermen work on Jan. 24, 2009 near the border with Egypt (AFP/File, Said Khatib)

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) --
Israeli naval forces early Tuesday detained four Palestinian fishermen
off the coast of the northern Gaza Strip, a Ma'an reporter said.

Israeli
gunboats intercepted a Palestinian fishing boat near Beit Lahiya and
detained four fishermen from the al-Sultan family, taking them to an
unknown location.

An Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma'an Israeli
naval forces "identified two vessels" that were outside of the
"permitted fishing zone" in the area, saying they were further than six
miles from shore.

The forces called on the boats to stop, fired
warning shots into the air, shot "toward the vicinity of the vessels,"
and then took the fishermen for "questioning," the spokeswoman said.

Last Wednesday, Israeli forces detained two Palestinian fishermen in the same area.

Since
the signing of a ceasefire agreement that ended 50 days of fighting
between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in Gaza on Aug. 26, the
Israeli navy has in at least three instances fired at Gaza fishermen
under the pretext that they had surpassed fishing zone limits.

Last
Tuesday, fishermen told Ma'an Israeli forces fired at them with machine
guns while they were fishing well within the six-mile limit near Rafah,
in an apparent breach of the ceasefire deal.

The Israeli army
confirmed the incident at the time but said only warning shots had been
fired and that the fishermen were further than six miles from shore.

The
Aug. 26 agreement stipulated that Israel would immediately expand the
fishing zone off Gaza's coast, allowing fishermen to sail as far as six
nautical miles from shore, and would continue to expand the area
gradually.

Under the terms of the deal, Israel also agreed to ease its siege on the coastal enclave.

Prior
to the recent agreement, Israeli forces maintained a limit of three
nautical miles on all Gaza fishermen, opening fire at fishermen who
strayed further, despite earlier agreements which had settled on a
20-mile limit.

The restrictions crippled Gaza's fishing industry and impoverished local fishermen.